In the field of packaging for small consumer goods, there exist different ways to fill such packaging intended to protect the goods during transport, distribution, and sale to the consumer. One example of such packaging is the blister pack, also called blister band or blister card, which are terms used for various types of pre-formed plastic packaging.
In the pharmaceutical field, which is one example of a field in which blister packs are commonly used, the pockets of the blister packs are normally filled with pills. The pockets are then sealed so that the pills are protected from the elements and secured within.
Often, a professional such as a pharmacist or lab technician, will manually fill each pocket of the blister pack with a corresponding pill or with many different pills for a same dosage period. It can be appreciated that one disadvantage associated with this method is that it is time consuming to individually fill each pocket of a blister pack, especially when filling out a prescription of medication for a long duration. It may further disadvantageously lead to human error if an incorrect tablet is placed in a corresponding pocket.
Other techniques for filling a blister pack are currently available. One example includes the system produced by Synergie Médicale BRG inc., commercialized under the trade-mark SynMed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,662.
Some drawbacks associated with such automated systems include: a) they can be too costly to install or operate; b) they occupy valuable space within a pharmacy; c) they often require complicated migration and installation of information technology to manage and control operations; d) each pill in the machine's inventory needs to be in its specific container for its particular size to avoid having several pills retained by each prong; and e) they can be relatively complicated and time consuming to operate and maintain.
The Applicant has developed a vacuum filling assembly for filling the cavities of packaging with objects, as described in CA 2,843,074. The filling assembly has a handle which can be gripped by a user so as to manually operate the filling assembly. The filling assembly also has a manifold capable of generating suction, such as from a vacuum supply. A valve is used to control the suction applied to objects, and is operable between a retain and release configuration. The filling assembly also has a plurality of prongs which are in fluid engagement with the manifold so that the objects are retained at the end of the prongs when the valve is in the retain configuration, and can be released into the cavities of the packaging when the valve is in the release configuration. The size of the prongs can be adapted to the various sizes of the objects to be manipulated.
However, when the above-described vacuum filling assembly is used to manipulate small pills, it is possible for several pills to be retained by each prong, which is undesirable since typically only one pill at a time must be placed in a corresponding blister pack pocket. It then becomes difficult for the user to transfer single pills associated with each prong to a corresponding pocket of a blister pack. Moreover, control of the valve connected vacuum supply is also difficult to adjust.
Hence, in light of the foregoing, there is a need for a device which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the aforementioned prior art drawbacks.